Miner s pro



No. 6l4,265. Patented Nov. l5, I898.

T. S. GLUVER. MINER'S PROSPECTING TOOL.

(Application filed Ian. 8, 1898.)

(No Model.) 2 S heets-She et l.

WITNESSES lzm m N0. 6l4,265. Patented Nov. l5,'l898.

T. S. GLUVER.

MINERS PROSPEGTING TOOL.

[Application filed Jan. 8, 1898.)

Hull

WITNESSES 5 NIIED STATES PATENT OF IcE.

THEODORE S. CLOVER, OF NORWALK, CONNECTICUT, ASSIGNOR TO ORLANDO I. ALLEN, OF SOUTH NORWALK, CONNECTICUT.

MINERS PROSPECTING-TOOL.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 614,265, dated November 15, 1898.

Application filed January 8, 1898- Serial No. 666,065. (No model.)

In the present instance I have shown the v To all whom it may concern.-

Be it known that I, THEODORE S. GLOVER, a citizen of the United States, residing at Norwalk, in the county of Fairfield and State of Connecticut, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Miners Prospecting-Tools; and I do hereby declare the following to be afull, clear, and exact description of the invention, such as will enable others skilled in the art to which it appertains, to make and use the same.

My invention has for its object to providea boring-tool in which the cost of construction shall be reduced to the minimum, which shall be so constructed. as to enable all the parts thereof to be packed in small compass, so that while adapted for general use it shall be especially adapted for use as a miners prospecting-tool, which shall be durable and not likely to get out of repair, and so simple in operation that it may be readily used by persons not specially skilled in the use of this class of tools in either hard or soft earth and with or without a tube or to drill rock.

with these ends in view I have devised the novel prospecting-tool, of which the following description, in connection with the accompanying drawingsjis a specification, reference characters being used to designate the several parts.

Figure 1 is a view, partly in elevation and partly in section, illustrating the device as a whole as used in soft earth or sand where a tube is required; Fig. 2, a View showing a drill instead of an earth-auger coupled to the rod; Fig. 3, an inverted plan view corresponding with Fig. 1; Fig. 4, a section on the line 00 0c in Fig. 1; Fig. 5, an enlarged View showing the manner in which lengths of tubing are coupled together and to the circular cutter; Fig. 6, a section on the liney y in Fig. 7; and Fig. 7 is a plan view of the rod and coupling corresponding with Fig. 6.

A denotes a rod which is polygonal in form and made in sections; B, a tube also made in sections; C, a separable clamp-handle for rotating both rod and tube or either of them; D, an earth-auger of improved construction; E, a drill of ordinary construction, and F my novel coupling for connecting either two sections of rod or an anger or a drill to the rod.

rod as made octagonal in form, although hexagonal or any other polygonal form may be used, if preferred. The ends of the drillshank, the auger-shank, and the sections of rod are upset at the ends to form enlargements 1, the ends of said enlargements being flat, so that the ends will abut and will lie closely in contact with each other, and being preferably beveled at the edges, as at 2, as is clearly shown in Fig. 6. It will be seen that by thus beveling the ends of the drill and drill-rod it will not be battered or upset by the impact of the blows, so as to increase the diameter, and thereby prevent the use of the coupling, as would be the case if the drill or its rod became battered to any great extent.

The couplings for the auger or drill and the sections of rod comprise half-sleeves 3, each half-sleeve having an enlargement 4 at the center, the two enlargements forming a socket to receive the enlargements 1 at the ends of the auger or drill shanks and sections of rod, as is clearly shown in Fig. 6,which see in connection with Fig. 2. The ends of the halfsleeves are threaded, as at 5, and are engaged and locked in position, thereby uniting the sections of rod or a drill or auger to a rod by threaded collars 6. This special form of coupling is an important feature of my invention, as it is always perfectly rigid, is as strong as the rod itself, and, furthermore, in that it prevents battering and upsetting of the ends of the sections when a section or a number of sections are coupled to a drill and blows are delivered upon the upper end of the rod in drilling rock. The enlargements 1, which fit in the socket formed by enlargements 3 of the half-sleeves, render it impossible for the sections of rod to become separated in use. As the inner sides of the half-sleeves are made polygonal in shape to correspond with the shape of the rod, it follows that it is impossible for the sections of rod to turn in the coupling. The ends of the sections of tube are externally threaded and are joined together by collars 6 similarly to the sections of rod. At the lower end of the tube I place a circular cutter 7, which comprises a series of teeth 8, in the present instance four, although any other number may be used, if pre* ferred. The upper end of cutter 7 is internally threaded and is connected to the end of the tube in the same manner as the collars 6. At the upper end of the tube I place a special collar 9, which is provided in opposide sides with recesses 10 to adapt it to receive the handle C, as will be more fully explained. Collar 9 is internally threaded at its lower end and engages the upper end of the tube or a section of tube in the same manner as the collars 6. The earth-auger is provided with the usual grooves 11 and lips 12, the novel feature of construction being that the lips i11- cline upward and inward at an angle to the plane in which the auger operates, said lips meeting each other at an obtuse angle at the center of the auger, as is clearly shown in Fig. 1.

The separable clamp-handle 0 comprises arms 13, preferably united at one end, as at 14, and formed of resilient metal and in such a manner that the arms will tend to spring away from each other, and handles 15, each of which is provided with clips 16, adapted to slide over the arms, as clearly shown in Figs. 1 and t. Either or both of the clips on the handles may be provided with set-screws 17, by which the handles are locked in place on the arms and by means of which an adj ustment to adapt the handle to angers of different sizes may be secured. Each of the arms is curved outward, then inward again at the center, so as to form a socket which just receives the rod an d clamps it tightly, as shown in Fig. 4. To detach handle 0 from the rod, it is simply necessary to loosen the set-screws and slide the clamps off from the arms.

When it is desired to use the tube and an earth-auger at the same time, handle 0 is attached to the rod in the manner already described and is attached to the tube by placing the arms in recess 10 of collar 9, as in Figs. 1 and 4. It will be obvious that by means of handle 0 the operator is enabled to rotate both the auger and the tube simultaneously. In hard earth no tube is ordinarily necessary; but in sand and soft earth a tube is required. \Vhen the auger and tube have been forced down as far as convenient, handle 0 is removed and other sections of rod and tube are attached in the manner already described. It will be apparent that the rod and anger may be removed at any time without removing the tube, should it be desired to clear out the hole or to sharpen the auger.

It is obvious that the entire tool may be packed in very little space. The auger and drill and the sections of rod and tube are of course separated from each other, and handles 15 are removed from arms 13. This enables the parts to be laid closely together and to be made into a comparatively small package.

Having thus described my invention, I claim 1. In a boring orprospecting tool, the combination with a solid central anger or drill, of a tubular auger having a cutter at its lower end surrounding said central drill but separate therefrom, and an operating-handle so cured to the central drill at right angles thereto, said handle being adapted to drop into recesses formed in the top of the tubular auger and lock the two parts in fixed and operative relation to each other.

2. In a boring or prospecting tool, the combination with a solid central drill or anger, of a detachable tubular auger surrounding said drill, and a detachable operating-handle having a spring-clamp which grips said central drill and engages the upper end of said tubular auger so as to lock the two parts together.

3. The combination with an earth-auger, a rod by which it is carried, a circular cutter and a tube by which it is carried and which inclos'es the rod and a collar at the upper end of the tube which is provided with recesses 10, of a handle adapted to clamp the rod and to engage the recesses 10 so that the auger and circular cutter may be rotated together.

4. In a boring or prospecting tool, the combination with a central drill or anger, of a tubular anger surrounding the latter and a handle for operating said angers having spring clamping-arms which grip said central drill and also engage the tubular auger, and sliding clips which hold said spring clamping-arms in fixed clamping position.

In testimony whereof I affix my signature in presence of two witnesses.

THEODORE S. GLOVER.

\Vitnesses:

LAURENCE BRENNAN, WARREN KEELER. 

